Tale of My Kin
by Create-tion
Summary: Sasuke may have a daughter and a family that he loves but when he learns that he's possibly wronged someone in a way that can't be undone, how will it affect his ninja way? Can he atone for his sins? Can Naruto help him overcome the guilt... Will Itachi finally have a living memory...


Sasuke stood at the very edge of the village perimeter trying not to overhear what he'd just caught wind of. He was too old and too tired for the piece of Intel he'd just targeted. A woman, lithe and tall, stood near the village gates. Her hand was gently gripping a boys who seemed to be about the same age as his own daughter. He kept his head down and continued to listen to their conversation. The younger boy sighed gently before putting his head against his mothers side closing his eyes as she spoke.

"Thank you for staying with him after school Schion." She smiled at the male standing in front of her. He must have been about her age with shaggy blue hair down to his ears and gentle magenta eyes.

"It wasn't a problem at all." He nodded to the boy before ruffling his hair.

"Mom can we just go home?" The boy yawned rubbing at his eyes. Now that Sasuke got a good look at the kid, it was eerily similar about what the Intel had said. He didn't dare hope.

"Yes. Give me a moment Kai." The mother whispered softly down to her son. The man with the magenta eyes, Schion, put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll stop by later this evening after you put Kai to bed. I know tonight's the anniversary…" He trailed off looking her face over. She wouldn't look up to meet his eyes. There was a fake smile that just barely hid the signs of pain in the woman's eyes.

"Thank you." Was all she said.

"Mom…what's wrong?" The boy asked tucking a few stray strands of long ebony hair back behind his ear.

"Nothing." She ran her fingers through his hair. "Nothing is wrong."

The boy may have bought the lie but neither himself nor Schion believed it. Schion looked her over warily and just barely shook his head before leaning in to hug her.

"See you soon." He smiled.

"Goodnight." She replied.

Sasuke followed the woman back to her home. It wasn't anything grand. It was a normal flat apartment on the second floor of a run down district in the Mist. There were shady characters hanging around the high built arch entrance which seemed to be just standing up by two old pillars. There was paint peeling over the sign that welcomed him and others to the complex. It was only a level above a slum with slightly more leg room and a small balcony on all upper level apartments. However, by balcony, it was really more of a two foot extension with a questionable railing that could probably blow over with a breeze.

By the time they'd reached the home, the woman had picked up her son, and was carrying him on her back. He'd long ago fallen asleep with his head laying over her shoulder as his small breaths ruffed her hair against her cheek. Sasuke watched as she trudged up the stairs and headed into the apartment labeled with a rusty nine. He'd already summoned a snake that he sent in after her. He'd let it simply rest for a while and watch her movements before he'd go in. If he wanted to get accurate information to check the Intel, then she'd have to be completely asleep. The small creature slithered in just behind her feet and curled hiding away in a dark corner of the living room area while she disappeared down a hallway. He could hear through the vibrations in the floor of his snake the soft footfalls she made shuffling her son into a bedroom to lay him down. He heard her voice whisper to the boy as she tucked him in.

"I love you Kai. Your father loves you too…" Sasuke tried to ignore the pang in his gut when she whispered the good nights from herself and the father of her son. It was pure guilt ridden in his gut and chest. He'd have to wait for a while before he could get her to sleep. She seemed exhausted as she exited the boy's room shutting the door with a creak. She returned to the hallway to enter the kitchen area meaning she'd had to walk past the snake again. Sasuke watched through it's eyes as she leaned back against the kitchen counter. There was something in her hands…a candle…a votive meant for a grave. She clutched it reverently and blinked back tears in her eyes. A small noise started in he back of her throat. There was a sma gust of wind and suddenly the man from earlier was standing in front of the woman. He pursed his lips before putting his hands on either side of her shoulders and very slowly leaning his forehead forward to touch hers. She shivered fighting back tears.

"I'm here…it's ok." He whispered. She shut her eyes as the first few tears cascaded down her pale cheeks.

"It's so hard sometimes Schion." She whispered. "He looks so much like his father…he acts like him even more than he knows…"

"Let's light the candle first, then you can tell him how his son is doing. How about that?" Schion smiled down at her. "Light the candle and then tell him all about it." She wiped at her eyes nodding.

"I'm always a mess on the day he died Schion. I'm so sorry." She chuckled half heartedly. He took her hand and led her into the living room where they both sat near a table on the floor. Schion placed the candle on the table and lit it with a match he'd snatched from the kitchen counter on the way in. As the woman sat down beside him sheerness her head on his shoulder sitting so that their knees were touching. There had to be some kind of history between these two. The snake didn't dare move from its shadowed corner where it watched.

Once the flame was lit, she once again loses her eyes as he took her hand and held it in his lap.

"I offer this in remembrance of the man I fell in love with, the father of my child." She said softly.

She stayed silent like that for a long while before speaking again. When she finally did it turned his gut even more sour. She spoke of how the days had been long and the nights were beautiful here in the village. She talked about how much their son loved reading and that he was excelling very quickly in school, both with books and physical. She talked about how much their son's mannerisms reminded her of him. With each sentence Sasuke wanted to pretend he'd never heard this news at all. He bit back the fear creeping into his heart. Eventually the woman fell asleep and Schion sighed picking her up. He held her bridal style staring down into the grave candle.

"Things would have been a whole lot easier on her if you'd never have been in her life. I love your son but I can tell you that you hurt her in a way that she's never come back…the biggest light that I see now…is only when she watches him. But there's so much pain there too. After what you did to her…you didn't deserve her…It's always been me by her side picking up after you. I told you you'd break her. You rotten bastard." He sighed shaking his head. There was a tiny but inhumanly waver to the flame like it had been licked by he wind. It extinguished suddenly on it's own. The man decided that was his cue to take the woman to her bed. He laid her down before putting a blanket over her and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Goodnight Scia."

Sasuke waited until he was well outside of perceptible chakra range before he called his snake back and entered the apartment. This would go best without interruption.

It had taken a lot to delve inside the woman's sleeping brain. She was well guarded with some kind of hidden genjutsu that blocked her brain from being accessed easily, even from the sharingan. Sasuke had a sinking feeling that there had been a purpose for the lock being put there to keep her safe. He had a feeling he knew who had sealed her thoughts. He also knew that he was one of the few who could actually get inside the seal barrier placed inside her head without hurting her which would have stopped anyone else. If there had been sensitive information they'd sought and tried to pry the seal too far, they could have severely injured her permanently and without being able to save her or the information. It was a smart plan, but with some edgy and exhausting efforts he was able to surge his way past it. He was in.

All her memories and dreams were there for him to see. It was a relative form of the mangekyo he'd devised to recover Intel from missions where people had been either killed or maimed beyond communication. It was helpful.

He watched as a memory started to form within her brain as she slept. The difference between a memory and a dream were subtle by the haze that surrounded the edges of the dreamers pictures as they formed. If they were clear then it was a memory. If the edges were slightly hazy then it was a dream. This one was crystal clear like he'd literally stepped into a picture that had come to life. Everything moved about him, sounds hit his ears, and smells drifted across the expanse of the room. Sasuke turned to see a small bed in the corner of a dank rock walled bedroom that appeared to be underground. In the tiny bed were two forms gently breathing. It took him a long moment to realize that the young female laying just entewined with the male behind her was the woman he'd enters the kind of. She shifted her leg curling it between the mans where they laid.

"Honestly, I told you to stop coming here." The boy said smirking sadly down at her. She glanced up at him as a warmer smile crossed her features.

"And I told you that I wasn't scared of any of this." She whispered before leaning forward to kiss him. It was just a light peck, soft and sweet. It caused a small tear to form in the corner of his eye. Sasuke felt his own eyes do he same.

"You should be very scared of everyone here…this is an Akatsuki base." She nuzzled her face into his chest. Her next words were muffled but Sasuke heard them clearly.

"I'm not scared of you Uchiha, Itachi. I'm not leaving you." His arms wrapped around her pulling her closer under the covers.

"I love you Scia. You're an idiot…but I love you." There was a stifled laugh from against his chest.

"I love you too crow."

Sasuke cut the bond between himself and the woman's sleeping form. There was no denying it now. The woman laying before him was definitely tied to his brother and that boy sleeping down the hall, that was just about the same age as his daughter, was his nephew. Sasuke felt lien someone had twisted a knife in his chest.

How…how could he even make up for this…


End file.
